Police have recovered the body of an 83-year-old female from the Whakatane River near Peketahi in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

In a statement, a spokesperson says the body was located while police were searching the shoreline of the Whakatane River in the area at 9am.

Police Search and Rescue and Coastguard having been searching the area since receiving a report of a person in the water near the Peketahi Bridge shortly before midday on Friday.

'Enquiries are continuing to establish how the woman came to be in the water.”

The spokesperson says police have identified the woman's and are in the process of notifying her next of kin.